Editor: Political prisoner Seymur Hezi found a few moments during a recent court session to meet with family and close friends. He shared some thoughts, and stated his desire for them to be passed to Meydan TV. His friends set down his thoughts in a letter and sent it to us for publication.
I saw on TV that the government of Azerbaijan has appealed to the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) over the false imprisonment of Dilgam Asgarov and Shahbaz Guliyev by “Karabakh separatists”. They have not hesitated to present this as heroism. True, their imprisonment is an obvious challenge to Azerbaijan’s territorial integrity, but why has the government appealed?
The ECHR still receives complaints from countries that have not ratified all its necessary conventions, within the area of the Council of Europe. And with this appeal, the Azerbaijani government has implicitly recognized the “Karabakh separatists”, playing to Armenia by bolstering the case for accepting the demands of the non-state entity (i.e. Nagorno-Karabakh). Why have they done this?
Until now the ECHR has, in a series of politically charged cases, issued verdicts opposed by the Azerbaijani government, such as supporting the release of Ilgar Mammadov and Ali Insanov. This appeal is nothing more than an attempt to blackmail the Court. The government of Azerbaijan knows that the ECHR does not have the resources to do anything for Dilgam and Shahbaz. They submitted the appeal to blow dust in the eyes of Azerbaijani society, taunting them. If the ECHR is so impartial, then let them support the release of Dilgam Asgarov and Shahbaz Guliyev.
With this dirty move, the government, having already built a poor reputation amongst the international community, deprives its citizens, some of whom are currently hostages, of the possibility of any real support.
Seymur Hezi
